


Oh Quiznak

by loOkMA_iTyPeLiKeDiS



Series: Plance Through The Years [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (but he doesn't know), A little messy, Crushes, F/M, Introspection, Jealous Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) in Denial, Lance (Voltron) is Dense, Lance has the crushies, T for a few words, allurance is dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 13:26:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16934082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loOkMA_iTyPeLiKeDiS/pseuds/loOkMA_iTyPeLiKeDiS
Summary: There’s no way he has a crush on Pidge, right?(Right…?)





	Oh Quiznak

**Author's Note:**

> this week has been so unpleasant. i hope you all have had a good one though ^^
> 
> this is a direct continuation of heartbreak sucks. some context might be missing in here but it can still be read as a standalone

“This is her place. Stop here.”

“Lance, honestly? You could have just called.” Hunk sighed from the driver’s seat as they pulled up in front of the Holt family’s residence. “She’s in most days anyway since she’s still waiting to hear back about that tech position.”

“And yet,” Lance argued, already unbuckling his seatbelt, “she’s never available! I’m confronting her directly so she can’t just brush me off.”

“She’s not… she’s not brushing you off, I don’t think,” Hunk responded quietly, but he was staring out the opposite window as a cyclist rode by and wasn’t looking at Lance as if he didn’t even believe his own words.

And anyway, Lance had a feeling it was a lie.

“You _know_ you’ve noticed it too. She talks to everyone, but me! Yesterday she and Allura had a sleepover with Romelle and on Tuesday she went to the gym with Keith and Shiro and last week you taught her how to make cookies _and_ she’s apparently going vintage thrift store hopping with Coran next week which is _hurtful_ because that is one of _my_ favourite things to do and she didn’t even ask me! She even went to a dog park with Kosmo! My birthday is in like two weeks and I want us to resolve whatever is going on because I am not going to spend the day mopey because my best friend is barely talking to me anymore.”

Hunk twiddled his thumbs, looking hesitant. “Lance… did you ever consider the fact that maybe she just needs some time or something?”

“Time from what? I didn’t do anything to her and we haven’t even hung out enough for me to have fucked up anyway.” Lance pushed open the passenger door and waved Hunk’s anxious look off. “It’ll just be a couple seconds. I’ll ask her to hang out in person this weekend and she won’t be able to back out this time.”

And with that, he shut the door and strolled up the walkway to the front porch.

Honestly, he knew this could be a long shot, and Pidge was known for getting aggressive when she was annoyed, but he just wanted to see her. He wasn’t wrong about the fact that she was always out and about. Most times he’d called, her mother had told him she was with Matt on some adventure.

Or with some rando on a date.

And if he was really honest with himself, _that_ was what bothered him most.

Pidge had been a serial dater pretty much the whole summer and it pissed him off because he’d been hoping to binge play video games with her. They’d gotten back to earth. They’d saved the world and earned their break. He’d spent time with his family in Cuba. He’d eaten a shit ton of his mom’s homemade garlic knots. And now he wanted to spend time with all his friends, but Pidge was the only one who had remained elusive for the most part. And then whenever he tried to seek her out, she was on a date with some random guy.

He didn’t get it.

This was the girl who hated romance and relationships since she’d consistently gotten irritated with Lance whenever he met pretty girls. But now it seemed that was all she was focusing on.

And sure, Lance was usually with Allura and they went out on a ton of dates too, but that never stopped him from hanging out with the others the way Pidge stopped hanging out with him.

Either way, he wasn’t letting her hide from him anymore.

Lance rang the doorbell, waiting with baited breath and hoping that she would come to the door, because trying to explain his intentions to any of her family wouldn’t be easy.

But lucky for him, when the door swung open, Pidge was standing there in her lounging clothes with a toothpick in her mouth. He couldn’t help the small lurch of his heart in his chest when they made eye contact. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her in forever, but a month and a half kind of felt like forever and there were little things he hadn’t known had changed about Pidge this summer. Like the fact that she was wearing her hair in two French braids now and that it had grown a little past the nape of her neck now and she kind of had a summer tan thing going on that made her freckles more prominent on her face.

“…Lance?” Pidge repeated and he blinked, realising he’d been staring. “Uh… what are you doing here?”

“Right.” He licked his lips and tried for an easygoing smile. “Me and Hunk were in the neighbourhood and were wondering if you had any plans for today or tomorrow or you know, this weekend, because we haven’t chilled together in a while and I thought maybe you might want to?”

“I have plans today and tomorrow…” Pidge chewed on her lower lip as she toyed with the hem of her t-shirt.

Lance’s heart sank. “Oh.”

“But umm…” She let out a long breath as she glanced up and gave him a barely there smile. “Matt and I were planning to check out some weird space fair on Planet Valgor this weekend. Apparently they were inspired by fairs on Earth so I think it’d be cool to see how outer space does Terran fairs. I was thinking of inviting everyone. More the merrier. You wanna come?”

“Yeah!” His disappointment dissipated and excitement filled its stead. “That sounds great.”

She still wasn’t quite looking at him, but at least she wasn’t ignoring him. “I’ll send out all the details and meetup info tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She nodded. “So then… I guess I’ll see you this weekend.”

“Yeah.”

When they’d bid each other farewell and he sauntered back to Hunk’s pickup truck, Lance was all smiles. Confronting her directly had definitely been one of his most inspired decisions yet.

Okay. This was good.

She didn’t seem mad at him or anything and they could get the chance to hang out again. Sure it was a group thing, but he could find some way to get her alone. Most fairs had some sort of arcade things so maybe he’d challenge her to a couple games and they could find their stride again.

 

…

 

Except, apparently, it turned out her and Matt had actually meant her and Matt and his girlfriend _and_ her dumb date. Their original plan had been to make it a double date which only got changed because Lance had gone to see Pidge earlier in the week.

Her date was some guy from a faction of Matt’s rebel group who looked like the bastard love child of Lotor and Coran. Super blinding ginger hair and a lavender complexion, though he wasn’t Galra.

And Lance _instantly_ thought he was annoying.

And yeah, maybe he looked like the alien version of a Greek Adonis despite his odd colour scheme, but Pidge didn’t have to act like she was so smitten by him. And Romelle and Allura weren’t helping with their goofy smiles and heart eyes too.

Even with Hunk and Shiro nearby talking about their expectations for the fair, and the rest of their friends chilling at the launch pad while Matt readied his ship, Pidge was utterly preoccupied with chatting with the guy and it pissed Lance off. She’d barely said two words to Lance and seemed so focused on _him_ that it was like no one else was around at all. Quite frankly, he thought it was kind of rude, considering she’d invited them to join along.

“Lance, are you alright?” Allura asked sweetly, drawing him out of his thoughts when she cupped his cheek. “You look quite irate. Or rather, like Keith.”

He shook off his scowl and smiled at Allura, who looked absolutely cute with the assortment of pink flowers pinned to her long braid, the cropped sweater and the high-waisted jeans Veronica had let her borrow. Allura was always a vision of beauty when he saw her. Her stunning looks on Earth had led to random scouts approaching her to see if she wanted to be a model.

“I’m fine.” Lance wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tucked her into his side as they walked over to the docking port where Matt’s ship was waiting. “Just wondering who this guy is who Pidge is dating. Does she even know him?”

“Yesterday, she told me they’d gone out twice before,” Allura said in a hushed voice, her stormy eyes twinkling in the way that they did when she had gossip to spread. “This is date number three. I think she’s going to get her first kiss today!”

Lance choked on his spit and coughed a bit, a little surprised by the statement because it was so unexpected. “What?”

“She’s positive he’ll be her first kiss. Maybe even her first boyfriend! Of all the guys she has dated this summer, she likes him the most.” Allura giggled girlishly, slipping her own arm around his waist. “She’s so cute! Hunk and I have a bet going to see if it happens today. He thinks her feet will get cold. And I’m not really sure what that has anything to do with it, especially since she’s wearing sneakers, but he’s my current enemy so I’m going to make sure Pidge gets her wish.”

“Her first kiss, huh…” Lance responded absentmindedly.

Lance only marginally listened to Allura detail her plan, but he couldn’t help but turn and look over his shoulder where Pidge and her date were laughing about something on her phone, heads close together.

 

…

 

The Valgorian event wasn’t so much a fair as it was a flea market-museum-festival-carnival hybrid thing with so many stalls all over the place and only vaguely organised. Most of the vendors were showing off crafts they’d made or selling their constructions. From the little pamphlet map Shiro had bought, it was a celebration of many different cultures, all coexisting in one small space to show off some of the best parts of their planets. Despite Lance’s disappointment that there might not be any tilt-a-whirls to ride until he was puking, it was bustling with activity and happy people, and Lance was impressed that the inhabitants managed to create something so extraordinary and grandscale. There were many species there enjoying the fair, but the thing that stood out the most was the harmony amongst all the people. Or maybe after experiencing so much turmoil during the war, seeing such peace in space was refreshing.

The only downside was because they weren’t occupied by games and activities, the first half hour of wandering around, they’d just talked.

And by they, Lance meant Pidge and lavender ginger dude.

Her stupid date (who he had taken to calling He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named in his head) kept making her laugh, and Pidge was acting _flirty_ which was so decidedly _not_ Pidge that it sickened Lance. This guy clearly wasn’t right for her if she felt she had to change herself and behave all weird just to keep his attention.

“This fabric is magnificent!” Allura said to a vendor who was staring at Allura with stars in her eyes. “Lance, do you think this would suit me if I made a dress out of it?”

“Hmm? Yeah, of course,” Lance mumbled, glowering over at the stall next door where Pidge and her date were trying on goofy looking, fancy gold hats and cracking up. “Matches the colour of your eyes.”

Keith paused from where he was putting a cute bowtie on Kosmo’s neck nearby and gave Lance a weird look. “It’s pink, Lance.”

Lance blinked and stared down at the fabric in Allura’s hands. “R-right, and by that I-I meant the pink colour matches the purple and the blue. It looks pretty. Cuz pink and blue go well together, you know?”

Allura looked confused, but she shrugged and took the sample over to the vendor to pay for it. Keith was still staring at Lance with that odd look on his face.

“What?” Lance said defensively.

Keith rose to his feet. “You’re awfully distracted.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Really? Because Allura got hit on twice…”

“ _What_? Who hit on my girlfriend?” Lance growled, spinning around to see if he could find the offender.

Keith’s answering look could only be described as shit eating. “No one did actually. I lied. Which you would have known if you were actually paying attention. Which just goes to show that you’re not.”

“I’m paying attention.”

“Not to the right thing…” he muttered.

“I-I’ve got a lot on my mind!” Lance spluttered, indignant from Keith’s impromptu interrogation.

“Hn. Interesting…”

Lance wanted to know what exactly he meant by that, but Keith walked away with Kosmo and Allura was bounding over to him excited about her new cloth. Once the rest of their group made their desired purchases at certain tents and Pidge ended up buying the hat, their group met off to the side to discuss options.

“We’ve been meandering around for an hour visiting so many similar stalls. This is getting boring.” Hunk moaned. “Can we come up with a plan or something?”

“I agree…” Shiro rubbed his chin. “As much as I find the fabric and textiles intriguing, I would like to observe the exhibits pertaining to history and the museum-like artefacts. I heard there was a whole area devoted to displaying important paintings and works of art.”

“I’d like to see that too,” Allura said in interest. “Antiquities of any civilisation are quite interesting.”

“No offence, but that sounds kind of boring…” Pidge groaned. “This place is way too large. There’s just too many stalls and I really don’t want to spend the time we have here visiting ones I’m not really interested in when there are others I could be checking out. I mean, there have to be _some_ rides here. I want to find a tilt-a-whirl and ride it ‘til I puke!”

“Exactly!” Lance exclaimed and he and Pidge beamed at each other. “That’s the whole point of a fair.”

Hunk shuddered. “Count me out. Besides, I only came because I wanted to try all the food.”

“I agree. I’m famished.” Romelle rubbed at her stomach when it growled. “Can we get something to eat?”

“I’d rather find something a little more energetic to do.” Keith stroked the top of Kosmo’s head and the wolf nuzzled his leg. “Kosmo’s getting a little restless.”

“So we split up?” Matt suggested, arm slung around his girlfriend’s waist. “I kind of came here on business anyway.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

So Hunk, Romelle, and Coran decided to go try food. Shiro and Allura decided to check out the memorial of important deceased warriors (whose war helmets Lance honestly thought made them look like they had nipples for heads). Matt, his girlfriend, and Pidge’s date left to go talk to some of the inhabitants and Valgorian diplomats running stalls to check their concerns, ask for updates, and see if they needed any assistance.

And because Lance and Pidge wanted to try out activities, ride rides, and test the game stalls, they were left to pair off. Something that actually pleased him a bit. He caught Matt giving Pidge a concerned look, but she waved it off with a small shake of her head.

“Keith, what about you?” Shiro asked. “What would you like to do?”

He shrugged, a hint of a smirk on his lips as he gestured to Lance and Pidge with his thumb. “I guess I’ll go with Tweedledee and Tweedledum over here so they don’t break anything.”

Lance scoffed in offence.  “Hey, rude!”

Pidge flipped Keith off good naturedly as the group laughed.

“Right, so we’ll split up and meet back up in roughly three hours near that Tug of Weblum Intestine stall at the front,” Allura said as she took hold of Shiro’s arm and steered him away. “See you all later!”

The rest of their group dispersed and Pidge turned to Lance and Keith.

“I’m gonna go buy another map so we can chart out the best statistical route to check out all the most interesting stuff in the amount of time we have. I’ll be right back.”

While they waited, Keith fed Kosmo treats for playing nice when some of the children at the fair grew too curious and started petting him and touching his fur.

“So what exactly did you mean by ‘interesting’ earlier?” Lance asked, eyeing him sideways. “What were you trying to say?”

Keith sighed. “What’s your deal?”

“I don’t have a deal.”

Keith dropped a hand on Lance’s shoulder to still him when he started to move away. “Look, you’ve been in a bad mood all day and maybe no one else but me has noticed, but you’ve had your eye on Pidge and her date the entire time. Everywhere we’ve walked and checked out, you were watching them. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave him a withering glare. “Well it’s a good thing you do know better because I’m _not_ jealous. I just don’t like her dumb date.”

“And you’ve determined that from what? One conversation?”

“ _No_ ,” Lance insisted. “It’s the way he acts around Pidge! He doesn’t even know anything about her or how intelligent she is. He treats her like she’s just your everyday average girl and that does a major disservice to Pidge. And he’s making her change herself! She’s all giggly and weird and that’s not the kind of person she is! He’s bad for her!”

“…Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“I’m making perfect sense!”

Keith gave him a blank look, undeterred. “Or maybe… you just have an issue with him showing such strong interest in Pidge because he’s monopolising any time with her you could have.”

“My issue with him is how condescending he’s being towards her!”

“Condescending how? She seems to be enjoying his company. In fact, we all are, except for you. Interesting, isn’t it, that you—and only you—can’t seem to live and let live. Her brother isn’t even bothered. I’m willing to bet your real problem is the fact that Pidge has been going on a lot of dates.”

“For the last time already, my problem is how annoying he is. And I don’t care if she’s dating because I’m not interested in Pidge!” he shouted, a little too loud and a little too emphatically.

A couple of people nearby eyed him weirdly and started walking by faster, some of the mothers telling their kids not to look.

“Funny…” Keith replied, calm as a cucumber. “I don’t remember mentioning a word about you being interested in her.”

Lance’s face flushed with heat, but he couldn’t think of anything to say as a retort.

“Lance. You need to figure out whatever the hell is going on with you before everyone starts noticing and you make us all feel awkward. Especially _Allura_.”

“I don’t know why I feel like this! But in my defence, she hasn’t spent as much time with me, and I miss my friend. That’s all it is.”

He’d wanted to spend the summer working on the final levels of multiple games with her, plus they were on earth now so there were so many more options and he wanted to know her favourites and show her his and battle it out. Yet every time he tried to, she had always been on some dumb date. All summer long. It was very disconcerting. So sue him for wanting to see her all summer.

And yeah, maybe when he’d spent the two weeks in Cuba at the beginning of summer she’d been on his mind a lot, but that was because they’d pretty much been messaging nonstop while catching up to all the entertainment and movies and media they’d missed in their time in space. The better friends they became, the more he liked talking to Pidge. She was sarcastically funny and her humour matched his and their interests pretty much lined up completely.

It was a couple days after he came back from Cuba that she’d started to get cold, but he couldn’t pinpoint when exactly or why. All he knew was that sometime after him asking Allura out on their first date, Pidge must have gotten mad at him about something.

“If that’s really all it is, then stop acting like a tool. But some introspection might be needed here, Lance.”

Lance sighed. “Maybe.”

And then Kosmo saw a squirrel-looking alien and before Keith could stop him, the wolf took off after it excitedly. The squirrel thing squeaked in fear and ran away, and Keith groaned, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. This had been happening on Earth a lot too.

“For fuck’s sake, Kosmo!” He ran after his wolf. “Come back here!”

Lance sat on a bench while he waited for either of them to return. Maybe Keith had a point about the introspection. But what exactly was he supposed to be looking into? He wasn’t jealous.

Why would he be?

 

…

 

A little while later, Pidge came back triumphantly holding a map and looking ready to tear up the fair.

“Alright, I’ve got a plan.” She looked around. “Where’s Keith and Kosmo?”

“Kosmo saw a squirrel. I doubt either of them are going to come back any time soon.” Lance stood up and stretched his arms above his head as Pidge snickered. “So where to first?”

She opened the small map to show him the layout and Lance leaned closer to see it better. He could have sworn he heard her inhale sharply, but when he glanced at her, her expression was totally blank save for her grip on the map which had tightened.

“There are some game stalls with prizes you can win at the northern corner. It’s by the museum area with that alien species called Areol,” Pidge explained, “who ironically, had their warriors wear helmets that made their heads kind of look like—”

“ _Nipples_ ,” they said in unison.

They both spun to face each other with wide eyes.

“ _Jinx! Double jinx! You owe me a jelly doughnut!_ ” they shouted in unison again.

And then they both dissolved into cackling laughter over how dumb they were being. It felt good to laugh with Pidge again over something silly. For once their interaction wasn’t layered with that weird vibe or tension.

“But yeah, we should start there. I drew out the order of places to go on the map,” Pidge finally said when they sobered up.

“…Did you want to start now? With just the two of us? I mean, I understand if you don’t want to and want to wait for Keith or something but we haven’t hung out alone in forever and I feel like this might be our only chance.”

Pidge hesitated just a bit too long to answer and for a moment, Lance’s stomach dropped to his feet because he was so sure she would say no. But she sighed and nodded at him with an odd, slightly distressed smile on her face.

“We can start. Keith can just transport himself to us with Kosmo, but we really should get started if we want to make the majority of these places in three hours.”

It wasn’t quite the answer Lance wanted to hear and he tried to ignore the slight pang of pain from her response and complete disregard of his comment about hanging out, but at least she wasn’t opposed to it. It was progress. He’d take it.

“Alright, let’s walk quickly, Lance. Try to keep up, kay?” she teased.

Lance cocked a playful brow. “Uh no. For every two steps you take, I take one. I don’t think _your_ little legs will be able to keep up with my stride.”

“I draw the line at height jokes, bean pole. I’m gonna make you eat your words.” Pidge jabbed him in the chest though she was biting her lower lip to keep from smiling. “We are soooo racing now…”

“You’re so on.”

 

…

 

It was a good thing she’d come up with a plan before they started because it made it that much easier to go through games and fun activities with ease. If the stall wasn’t quite interesting enough, they could just skip it and jump to the next destination on the list. In the span of only half an hour, they’d managed to participate in some dunk tank thing (terrifying because the liquid looked like blood), an archery game to shoot arrows into targets on people’s heads (terrifying because missing a shot equalled death), a whack an Areol helmet game (terrifying because the prizes looked like shrunken severed heads), and a game to see how much water you could suck up your nose (that one was just weird).

All the games were pretty awful, but Pidge was having a great time watching him freak out about how horrifying everything was so he sucked it up. He ended up gifting her the shrivelled head he won. It had blue troll hair and Pidge named it Lance in honour of him.

By the time two hours passed, they had done most all of their list and wanted to try food. They’d decided to be brave and try a snack called Drix sold at pretty much every corner café they’d found. It resembled a funnel cake only it turned out to be some creature’s fried intestine with purple meteor dust (apparently a delicacy found in only one galaxy’s asteroid belt). They’d promised each other if either of them died, the other would make sure to tell their families they loved them.

All things considered, it hadn’t been that bad, but Pidge chewed up a mouthful with some of the Sriracha-like sauce it came with and then showed it to him when he’d made fun of her for losing a couple games. It looked like blood and guts and _that_ had been enough to wipe away the rest of his appetite. The little gremlin had thought it was so damn funny so Lance retaliated when they found a water-gun like game (again with the liquid looking like blood) and totally sprayed her instead of the eyeball.

They got banned from playing it anymore when it sparked an all-out water war with other players, but Pidge was still cracking up and snorting several minutes later and she was super at ease and honestly it was kind of cute and damn if this whole thing wasn’t starting to feel like a…

He stopped his train of thought immediately.

This _wasn’t_ a date.

And he had a girlfriend.

What the hell was wrong with him?

 

…

 

Their last hour pretty much flew by after that, and all too soon, he and Pidge started to make their way back to the front of the fair/carnival/festival/museum/flea market place. There had been a few rides here and there. None of them spinny and puke-inducing but they’d still been decent.

“It’s not like I broke the carriage. The construction was flimsy…” Lance muttered, rubbing his bum as Pidge still howled with laughter beside him. “Geez, it’s not that funny.”

“Are you kidding?! It was so hilarious! You should have seen your face when you hit the ground! You’re like twice the size of any of the _kids_ and you really thought you could squeeze your legs into the ride?”

“You must have been happy that you fit right in then,” Lance retorted and Pidge gave him a sharp warning look. “What, you can dish it but you can’t take it?”

“Okay, Lance. Touché.”

Lance shifted the bag with the goodies to his other arm to give himself a pat on the back.

“You know, maybe we should all go to an amusement park for your 21st or an actual fair with a ton of rides and stuff,” Pidge suggested, looking around at the clothing stalls they were passing.

Lance snorted. “No way. Allura and Coran for some reason think cars are deathtraps. I doubt they would want to get on a rollercoaster with only a bar for protection. And Hunk only likes kiddy rides. I don’t think we’d all have fun. Besides, everyone knows a 21st birthday is all about getting wildly drunk at a bar because you’re finally legal.”

“I can’t get into a bar because I’m not legal.”

“Oh wait, that’s right.” Lance smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry. Hunk and I will try to come up with something we can all enjoy.”

She hummed appreciatively. “Think Keith ever stopped Kosmo?”

“I doubt it. I feel bad. He probably ended up spending the whole time trying to keep his wolf from mauling a citizen.”

“Good old Kosmo, huh?” Pidge tilted her head back to look at the sky as she rested her hands on her head. “Man, I’m kind of disappointed. I really wanted to puke today.”

“I almost did, no thanks to you and your disgusting little act.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “I feel like there wasn’t enough of a thrill of danger at this fair.”

“Were we playing the same games…?” Lance stuck his hands in his pocket and slowed his stride to match Pidge’s. “But I wouldn’t mind going to an amusement park on Earth sometime this summer. Uh, with you. We could try that challenge where you ride every single ride in the park.”

“Sure, that’d be fun.” She grinned happily. “Maybe I might even be able to mess with the electrical rigging of some of the spinny rides so that they go even faster.”

Lance fake sobbed in happiness. “What did we do to deserve you?”

Pidge shrugged, looking too pleased with herself.

They walked in companionable silence for a few more minutes, just watching the stalls and various people that walked by. He’d had a lot of fun with her today. And a lot of him didn’t want it to end because he was scared that as soon as they got back to Earth, she’d go back to ignoring him and she’d probably start going on the thousand dates again which he _really_ didn’t want to think about.

…Unless she wouldn’t need to.

Because now that he thought about it, what if she’d been going on the dates as an excuse to avoid him?

That made him kind of bitter.

“So I can count on you as an RSVP for my party, right? You’ll actually be available?”

He’d been a little aggressive with his question, and Pidge eyed him sideways with a frown from his tone.

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s your birthday.”

“I mean… to be honest… I wasn’t even sure you were going to come.”

He knew bringing this up might kill any good vibes going on, but Lance was still vexed by her avoidance and he wanted answers.

“Again: why wouldn’t I? You’re my friend.” She was dismissive with her response, looking vaguely uncomfortable, and Lance wasn’t okay with that.

She could try to deflect as much as she wanted, but at the end of the day, Pidge had been ignoring him, but no one else, and that wasn’t something easily missed.

Lance stopped walking. “Really? Because you haven’t exactly been treating me like one all summer.”

Pidge faltered in her step and stopped. Her arms dropped back down to her sides, but she didn’t say anything.

“You did fun things with everyone else but when it came to me, the only time I heard from you was through the grapevine. And I could let it slide if it happened once or twice but somehow I get the impression that it was a conscious effort on your part, and that’s a little messed up, Pidge.”

She exhaled slowly, turning around to face him with a guilty look on her face. “I admit I may have been a little evasive.”

“A _little_?”

“A lottle evasive,” Pidge corrected, and Lance couldn’t help his lips quirking up in amusement. “Sometimes I get in my head about random stuff and I think I did about you but I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings. It was a knee jerk reaction because I was upset and I don’t really deal with my emotions well sometimes.”

“What was it?”

Was it something he’d said?

Pidge shook her head and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s not important. Just something dumb and not worth losing a friendship over. I’m over it. Well, getting over it. Ish. And I’m sorry, Lance.”

He blinked in surprise at the direct apology. “Apology accepted.”

“And I’ll try to make more of an effort not to make you feel like that.” Pidge tugged on a loose string at the hem of her tank top. “I do miss talking to you. And hanging out. And I guess you.”

“…I miss you too,” he responded softly.

Pidge lifted her head and gave him a small, warm smile. The light hit her eyes just right and made the amber of her gaze look like it was glittering. Lance’s heart skipped a beat.

And he froze, dread filling him.

Because now he recognised the feeling that had been at the back of his mind for most of the summer. That really swoopy, flippy feeling in his stomach as if someone had suddenly yanked the floor out from under him and he was free falling. Or like the first drop of a mega-coaster. A feeling that had lit up in his chest whenever he saw Allura throughout their time as paladins, whenever the princess would talk to him in the Castle of Lions, whenever she would smile at him or laugh at his jokes, her blue eyes shining in delight. It was a feeling he associated directly with Allura. And _only_ Allura.

Fuck.

Did he…?

Nah. That couldn’t be it. It just couldn’t. He was with _Allura_ whom he loved very much and she made him happy and they always enjoyed each other’s company and she was sweet and perfect and a wonderful girlfriend and someone whose presence made his life better each day.

“Lance…?” Pidge’s brows drew down in concern and she waved her hand in front of his face. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“N-no… I’m… I’m uh, I’m… okay. Good. Doing great.”

Not nearly.

But she didn’t question anything as they walked the rest of the way and gathered up with the rest of their group who all looked refreshed, excited, and all had their own bags of fun souvenirs to remind themselves of the trip. They swapped stories of activities they’d done and things they’d seen, but Lance could barely keep up with anyone’s excited chattering. Lance felt like a frog had lodged itself in his throat and he could barely breathe or speak.

It had to be a lie.

But there was no denying that pang of jealousy he felt when they finally returned to Earth and her date had to go back in space for a small mission and wrapped Pidge up in a hug. Everyone was not so subtly watching the two to see if he would kiss her, but Lance was pretty sure he was the only one who was holding his breath and not really looking at them.

(Well, except for Keith who was boring a hole into _his_ head with his stare, but Lance ignored him).

Pidge noticed all the eyes on her and her face burst into colour.

“Do you guys mind?!” she hissed.

“Carry on~” Allura waggled her eyebrows playfully. “Pretend we’re not even here. We won’t judge if you want to kiss.”

“Cheater!” Hunk shouted. “You can’t say that!”

Based on Shiro’s expression of agreement, it was obvious he and Hunk had bet on the same thing.

Pidge’s date chuckled and turned back to her with a dazzling smile. “It’s alright. We should go out again the next time I come to Earth. The two of us, if that’s okay with you? Maybe dinner?”

“T-totally okay…” Pidge giggled breathlessly, twirling a loose strand of hair framing her face around her finger. Even Romelle was partially swooning and Lance was sure Allura had some hearts in her eyes too. “And I’d love that.”

He leaned down and left a lingering kiss on Pidge’s cheek, and Lance couldn’t contain his sigh of relief that that stupid charmer hadn’t gone for her lips. But Lance quickly stifled it and pretended like he wasn’t imagining decking the dude. Allura heard him and gave him a confused look and Keith was shaking his head kind of sympathetically, but Lance quickly played it off with a smile.

He felt sick to his stomach.

“You guys want to grab a bite to eat?” Hunk asked once the guy had taken off in his ship. “I could eat.”

“Still?” Coran looked appalled. “After everything we tried today?”

“Allura and I didn’t eat much, so I’m down. I’ll buy,” Shiro offered. “Because some of those dishes permanently made me lose my appetite.”

“Might as well.” Pidge sighed happily, looking lovestruck and with a vibrant flush on her cheeks. “I’m craving a milkshake right now.”

“ _There are milkshakes on Earth too?!_ ” Allura and Coran both exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Oooh what are milkshakes?” Romelle asked in excited curiosity.

And Lance tuned out the rest of the conversation, still trying to wrap his head around his horribly inappropriate reactions to Pidge.

This was no doubt what Keith had meant by doing some introspection. He meant fully analysing why Lance felt so disgruntled with Pidge dating all these guys. Why Lance was so bothered at the thought of her kissing another guy. Why even now, while she traded snarky comments with an exhausted and haggard looking Keith, while his girlfriend was even right beside him, Lance couldn’t drag his eyes away from Pidge’s face.

He was crushing on Pidge.

Quiznak… he was _so_ screwed.


End file.
